cow milker’s trousers

Jopie Huisman combined his work as a rag-and-bone man with painting. Some of the items he collected, for example shoes, trousers and shirts, he found hard to part with as he thought that they reflected their owners’ personalities.

Broek van een koemelker, Jopie Huisman, 1973

Cow milker’s trousers, Jopie Huisman, 1973

Jopie Huisman on his work Cow Milker’s Trousers:

“In 1973 I went through a patch of rough weather. Then, going through a pile of old rags I stumbled upon these filthy, worn-out milker’s trousers with its countless patches. I recognised myself in it and it stirred a feeling of desolation in me. So I took it into the house and painted it.”

The work on display here is a silk-screen print of the original painting.

The popularity of Huisman’s work is unprecedented, due to its recognizability and the painter’s meticulous style. Note, for example the middle button of the trousers.